Proposal to State Legislators, CalTrans and Governor Schwarzenegger
Objectives:
1. Create revenue for the State of California while maximizing use of State Controlled Land.
2. Pedestrianize, densify, and beautify the economically viable business micro-communities which have sprung up around California freeways by removing ugly, dirty and chemically hazardous gas stations from that business mix.
3. Decongest local traffic patterns adacent to freeway on/off ramps
4. Efficiently make use of land and reduce sprawl.
Background:
In many cities on the East Coast of the United States, highway development made use of eminent domain in which private land was seized to make space for highway development. 
As a result, many freeways and highways in dense cities on the East Coast directly abut residential and commercial areas, with the result that land is maximally used, in some cases with highways built on top of existing structures and real estate.
In these satellite photographs taken from google maps, you can see that highways in New York City are built right next to existing real estate developments with little to no buffer zone.
In Boston, freeways are so intertwined in the downtown area that the freeway goes underneath parts of the city, in the exorbitantly expensive public works project known as the “big dig”.
In England, motorways in the UK have service stations built almost directly near the roadway, practically abutting the same. An example is visible below, on the M5 motorway in the west of England, a fairly rural portion of the country.
In many parts of California, residential and commercial development ends within a buffer zone and in many cases this buffer zone is very wide at the on ramps and off ramps. In some cases, this space is large enough to allow for an alternative use of this space. In some cases, this space is already being used by park and ride spaces, demonstrating proof of concept that viable use of dead space surrounding freeways can be made useful in a safe way (safe to motorists and users of the space).
The proposal:
The State of California could lease this property to private companies, who would then be permitted to build gasoline stations on the land. This would be desirable to private companies because they would get enhanced visibility and traffic from motorists on the freeway, because the gas station would be very close to the highway.
It would also permit the small economic communities which flourish near highways to diversify their function and focus less on services provided to motorists and more on services for local communities.
This would reduce traffic from the freeway as motorists simply needing gas and or a coffee or soda or a place to stretch their legs would not have to really exit the freeway and thus have the effect of causing local traffic to flow more smoothly.
Proof of concept:
At Poinsettia Lane in Carlsbad,
there is almost enough space in the southbound off ramp dead
space to fit the nearby structure of the Quality Inn which is the business directly next to the off ramp. There is clearly enough space here to safely construct a small gas station and integrate it into traffic flow. This could have a beneficial effect of possibly removing a gas station from the small mall which is nearby on Avenida Encinas, or decreasing the incredible number of gas stations at nearby Palomar Airport Road.
Palomar Airport Road is a particularly poignant example of poor integration of the freeway into local traffic patterns. At Palomar Airport road there are TWO southbound freeway on ramps, one of which uses an incredible amount of space.
Removing this leaf of the cloverleaf and placing a gas station on the land would reduce traffic exiting the freeway and reduce congestion to local traffic patterns. In addition, a gas station on this land and the existing southbound offramp could be integrated with the existing fast food establishments located west of the highway which would further reduce local traffic patterns and prevent congestion on the local roads which predominantly serve tourists to the upscale legoland park and nearby tourist attractions. This would remove unsightly gas stations from the business mix on the east side of the freeway and permit more up market businesses in keeping with the business mix in the local area.
A motorist exiting the southbound freeway here has the following views to the left and right. Imagine if that motorist could refuel their vehicle without having to fully exit the freeway, by stopping at a refilling station RIGHT on the offramp, and at the same time having access to the food options to the west of the freeway. This would safely reduce local traffic and improve efficiency, beautifying the local area, and providing revenue to the state.
In Sorrento Valley, 
elevated highways
clog the landscape. A small park and ride ekes out it’s survival in the shadow of these freeways, providing proof that a service station could be built somewhere in this complex and providing revenue to the state.
Another possible site is shown here at Encinitas Blvd.
Countless other examples abound within the state of California. We could generate a substantial amount of revenue, beautify local communities, decrease pedestrian exposure to pollutants, improve local traffic patterns, and increase efficiency of the freeway system by reducing overall transit times for drivers by reducing time spent waiting in congested and often complicated highway offramp business communities.
John Haughey
Images provided by Google Maps.
